Controllable cowling



May 16,- 1939. K. A. BROWNE CONTROLLABLE COWLING Filed Oct. 16, 1957 INVENTOR. KENNETH & BifomvE A ["1 ORNEY.

Patented May 16, 1939 PATENT OFFICE "CONTROLLABLE a Kanneth Brownepwestwood, N; 1., assignor to Wright Aeronautical Corporation, a corporation'oifNe'w york 1 ADpIicationOctoBere. iss'n' seriai 169,355 1 9 (Criss 171 Ihisinvention relates to-thecowlizig-and ing. of 'ai cooled. engines, and in certain respects comprises. improvements on the copendirig application of Roland Chilton; Serial No. l69-,349,;fl1 ed October -16,. 1'93fZ.. I i

That application= disclosesflexibl'e segments controllable toyarythe Widthof the cowling exit slot,-the controlbeing operable to give a wide slot for takeoff, climb and other slow speed high 10 power conditions and a narrow slot for cruising and higher speeds; g According to the teachings of the present invention, the control elements are deleted and the stiffness characteristics of the flexible members are so proportioned that they move from open to closed position automatically in response to air pressure changes following on changes in flying speed.

The cowling is of the type employing a front entrance and an annular exit in combination with a pressure-baffled engine,'that is to say, an en-. gine having baffles closely fitted to the finned profile of the cylinders wherebyallof the airflow is confined to pass throughthe cylinder finning. 35 In-such cowling, cooling depends upon the pressure differential, infront of and behind the baflles, generated by the cowl due to the forward speed of the airplane. This differential varies with thesquare of the speed and with current pracu) tice, at climbing speeds of aroundone hundred miles an hour, about 3 of pressure differential is all that is obtained with conventional cowling. iUnder level flight cruising conditions, however, the speed will be at least doubled and the pressure differential accordingly four times as much,-'

representing a great excess over thecooling requirements for this normal, part-throttle opera.- tion. This excess airflow has to be obtained at the-expense of increased drag with normal fixed J cowling. and accordingly, this invention provides a novel automatic means for damping this flow by changing the width of the exit slot to be maxr imum for takeoff and climb, and to be much smaller during cruising and other high speed oporation.

Other objects of the invention will be obvious from, or'will be pointed out in the following description with reference to the drawing, in which:

1 is a' longitudinal section through the cowling of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view with the upper part in section on the line 2 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section through over lapping segments.

In the drawing, 40 designates a conventional in the speed response of the device'is necessary engine-having the usual propeller l2 and mount-1.

ed in an airplane fuselage 14 having the usual firewalll 6. The cowl comprises a curved shell I8 embracing the engine and'providedwith an annular air deflector or guide 20. To the rear of 5 this cowl there is provided a ring or frame 22' to which are secured the rear ends of forwardly extending curvedflexible segments 24-26 slightly overlapped at adjacent edges asindicated in Fig.

2. Cowling 32 comprises a closure from the ring 10 22 to the firewall l6.

In this automatic embodiment thev segments, when the airplane is' at rest, are conformed to the disposition shown in full lines in Fig. 1 which may be achieved by means of the inherent spring 15 in the segments and by the aid of a circular coil' spring 28 running through hollow beads 30 formed in the front edges of the segments 26.

It will be understood that as the speed of the airplane increases, the static air pressure in the 20 space behind the engine defined by the bulkhead IB and the cowling 32 also increase and this pressure is effective on the inside of the flexible segment 24-46, tending to urge them to the position shown in. dotted lines in Fig. 1 whereat the segments abut suitable stop fingers 34 set to give the minimum width of exit slot required for high speed flight. i It is contemplated that the movement of the segments from the open to the shut position will take place suddenly when a certain air speed (determined by the setting of the spring 28) is reached. It will be seen that once the air pressure inside the segment is sufficient to initiate movement, the resultantnarrowing of the exit .35 slot willthrottle or damper the flow through that slot, thereby increasing the closing pressure on the flexible segments which will therefore be unstable until they encounter the stops 34. 'I'he spring characteristics of the assembly will be ad- 40 justed so that closure will occur at a flying speed intermediate the climbing and cruising speed.

In modern airplanes this represents a speed range of at least 2:1 so. that no great accuracy for normal operation wherein climbing and cruising (or full speedflight) represent widely separated regimes. I

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. I aim cowls, said flaps being movable outwardly to close the exit slot under the influence of a greater pressure within than without the cowling.

2. In aircraft, an 7 engine including streamlined forward and rearward annular cowls one embracing the engine, axially spaced apart to define an annular gap therebetween, flexible se mental flaps fixed to one said cowl and extending across said gap, and stops limiting the outward movement of said flaps to a position substantially flush with the cowl profile, resilient means urging said flaps radially inward of the cowl profile to form an enlarged air exit slot between said cowls, said flaps being movable outwardly to close the exit slot under the influence of a greater pressure within than without the cowling, said means comprising beads formed at the free edges of said flaps and a coil spring threaded through said beads.

3. In combination, an air-cooled radial cylinder engine, axially spaced, aligned, streamlined an.- nular cowls, one embracing the engine, defining therebetween an annular exit opening, for engine cooling air, a plurality of segmental spring flaps fixed to the leading edge of the rear cowl, movable between a position inwardly of the trailing edge of the front cowl whereat a large air exit annulus is defined, and a positionadjacent the trailing edge of the front cowl whereat a small air exit annulus is defined, said flaps being responsive in their movement between and to said positions to the air pressure differential between the inside and outside of the cowls, and means resiliently urging said cowls to the inner, large air exit opening, position.

KENNE'IH A. BROWNE. 

